Portrait of the Monster as a Young Man

This excerpt from Alan Bullock’s incomparable biography of Hitler covers his formative years, from his birth in 1889 to the end of the First World War in 1918. It sets the stage for Hitler’s later strategies and programs by explaining the sources of his ideas and the influences of his early life experiences. The greatest mistake in evaluating Hitler is to think of him simply as a madman. His ideas may have been perverse and his policies catastrophic, but they were clear products of his troubled youth.

Incomparably authoritative, Bullock’s 'Hitler: A Study in Tyranny' is an absorbing and readable account of one of history’s most extraordinary lives. When it first appeared it was immediately acclaimed throughout the world. H. R. Trevor-Roper, in the New York Times, called it “a remarkable achievement . . . comprehensive, clear, and well written.” William L. Shirer said it “will long remain, I believe, the definite and standard work on the subject.”